Tag Archives | intimate conversations

Episode Eight — Part Three (Chapter four): In this episode we gather for a nice evening out, with Rob, Nick and Max. The good news is that Rob happens to run into Ariadne at the pub. The bad news is that Max drops acid, gets “the Sauce” and has a meaningful experience with a cactus. Oh, and Nick is pretty weird too. But Rob is definitely falling for Ariadne.

An excerpt:

Meanwhile Max came out of his bedroom, dressed in some running shorts and a singlet. His green eyes looked scary, the pupils tiny despite the duskiness of the room. Nick calmed down again, and Max poured himself a scotch. He sat down, and immediately said, “Holy shit. Look at the fucking cactus!”

“What about the cactus?” I asked.

“I mean, look at it. How can you miss it?”

Nick sensed Max’s fascination, and he started staring at it too. It was like they weren’t there, and Ariadne and I started talking.

“Do they do this often?”

“Hardly ever. Nick especially. I have to say, I’m really surprised. Tundra is a freak. He probably does this more than he should, but I’m not usually with him when he does, so I couldn’t tell you how frequently.”

“It’s nice that you look out for your friends.”

“Ah, I’ll tease them mercilessly tomorrow. And for the foreseeable future.”

Episode Seven — Part Three (chapters one to three): This episode is all about intimate conversations: a megalomaniac talks with his ghost, and we learn what’s going to happen to Nick. The monkey-man discovers the lure of the banana, and so does Helena, VP, Marketing, Gargantuan Enterprises. And in chapter three, the VP learns that her boss, the Megalomaniac and CEO of Gargantuan Enterprises (not his actual title) might be crazy and yes, is planning to launch a weather-controlling satellite.

An excerpt from chapter two. Nick has run into Helena at the Gargantuan Enterprises building, and they have a coffee together:

They managed to get the same table where Helena and I had sat before, and talked for a while about the weather. Midway through his coffee, Nick got up and went back to the counter where he bought a banana. The thought of it had been haunting him since he had ordered his cappuccino.

“So what study are you participating in?”

“Hmm. Not allowed to talk about it. There’s a helmet involved and everything,” Nick said, and then pointed to his banana. “Would you like to taste this? It’s incredible. It tastes like no other banana I’ve ever had in my life, I mean —” he took another bite, and chewed, his eyes rolling back into his head with pleasure. “I mean, this is fucking fabulous,” Nick exclaimed. “Sorry,” he smiled, a winning grin, “I didn’t mean to hog it all. Here, have a bite.”

He offered the banana to Helena, and she was extremely conscious of his hand holding it as her lips surrounded the pale flesh of the fruit. Her face flushed, and she took a bite, self-consciously. It tasted like a banana, but the accompanying rush of blood to her face, and other regions, gave it an extra zest.